April is National Donate Life Month

Last Thursday Forks Community Hospital recognized National Donate Life Month with a flag-raising ceremony. Joining FCH staff this year was former FCH nurse and kidney transplant recipient Mary Monteleone Raben.

At the short ceremony, FCH CEO Heidi Anderson shared the following statement.

“National Donate Life Month (NDLM) was established by Donate Life America and its partnering organizations in 2003. Observed in April each year, National Donate Life Month helps raise awareness about donation, encourages Americans to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors, and honors those that have saved lives through the gift of donation. This year’s theme is Bee A Donor, inspired by the vital role that bees play in sustaining life. Bees are a small but powerful life force, working together with dedication, collaboration, and a strong sense of community. This National Donate Life Month, we ask you to be a part of this interconnected life-sustaining community by registering as an organ, eye, and tissue donor, becoming educated about living donation, championing the Donate Life cause. Forks Community Hospital will continue to honor the gift of donation and save the lives of those waiting for a second chance at life. We wish you a Happy National Donate Life Month.”

Mary Monteleone Raben is known to many Forks residents as a former nurse at Forks Community Hospital, and also as a business owner of Pacific Pizza and the Woodland Inns.

Mary received her gift of life six years ago.

The following is an updated excerpt from an article that appeared on the Everett Herald website a few years ago.

“Parker Lang, 18, died March 11, 2016, after being hit by a car on the Bothell-Everett Highway. A 2015 Jackson High School graduate, he was struck on a rainy night while walking home from work at a Mill Creek store.

And then there’s Mary Monteleone Raben. The Forks woman never met Lang, but part of him is always with her. “Parker’s my hero,” she said. Six years ago Mary received a transplanted kidney. Lang was an organ donor.

Three days after Lang’s death, on March 14, 2016, she had surgery at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. While recovering, she wrote a letter of thanks to her donor’s family, not knowing Moore’s identity.”

Mary eventually met Lang’s mother and later came together for a tribute to the young man that was an organ donor.

At the tribute, his mom, his best friend and the Rabens helped put finishing touches on a floral portrait of Lang that was part of the Donate Life Rose Parade Float. With images called ‘floragraphs’ of Lang and 42 other organ donors, the float joined dozens of other floats, marching bands, and equestrian groups in the 2018 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif.

Kidneys are the most commonly transplanted organ — and the most in need. While waiting for a kidney transplant, many patients can undergo daily dialysis treatments to clean toxins out of blood. Some conditions that could make a kidney transplant necessary are high blood pressure, diabetes, and cystic kidney disease. Kidneys can be preserved outside of the body for up to 36 hours before transplant into a recipient. Transplants are blood typed and matched for the size and weight of donor.

There are more than 100,000 people on the kidney transplant waiting list, according to the Living Kidney Donor Network. The wait for a deceased donor could be five years and, in some states, it is closer to 10 years.

The happiness of organ recipients also means that somebody somewhere has died and either they have signed a donor card or family has made an amazing and generous decision at a time of terrible sadness.

Signing a donor card, registry or driver’s license is a good first step in designating your wishes about donation, but letting your family or other loved ones know about your decision is vitally important. That’s because family members are often asked to give consent for a loved one’s donation, so it’s important that they know your wishes.

Mary also wants those on the fence about being an organ donor to know about some common myths.

Myth #1: There are enough organs for those who need them

Across the U.S., more than 112,000 people are waiting for a lifesaving transplant. Someone is added to the waitlist every 10 minutes, and 22 patients die every day because the organ they needed wasn’t donated in time.

The typical wait is 8-11 years for a deceased donor transplant.

Myth #2: Only the deceased can donate organs

Living donors are crucial.

The popularity of living-organ donation—particularly for kidneys—has increased a lot in recent years, as people become more aware of what a difference it makes.

A kidney from a deceased donor may last 10-12 years. A living-donor organ can last 10-20 years or even more.

Transplantation from a living donor can also be planned and scheduled, so the patient getting the organ can have family around to help.

Myth #3: Many religions forbid organ donation

Most religions encourage organ donation as an act of love and compassion. Giving an organ means giving life, and that’s deeply meaningful for people of faith.

Myth #4: You can’t have an open casket if you’ve been an organ donor

Open casket funerals can take place after organ, eye and tissue donations. Funeral arrangements will continue as planned.

Organs are not viewed as commodities, but as precious gifts.

Myth #5: Doctors won’t try as hard to save my life if I am an organ donor

Your life always comes first.

Myth #6: Kidney donors have to be family members

Many donors are altruistic. Doctors match the donor to the patient using various criteria, including blood type. Research keeps bringing new breakthroughs to improve organ transplantation and manage possible problems, such as blood-type compatibility.

Myth #7: Only young and healthy people can be donors

For kidneys, living donors range from age 18 to 80, what matters is that you’re in good physical and emotional health.

If you’re donating organs upon your death, you can often do that even if you had health problems.

Your medical condition will determine which organs you can give.

Give the gift of life, “What a legacy to leave behind.”

If you are curious about organ donation or are considering it check out www.donatelife.net. You can sign up there or find information that might help answer questions.